Student Free School Days Term 2

Please mark in your calendars student free days on Friday 27 May and Friday 1 July. The 27 May coincides with the Reconciliation Day long weekend and the 1 July is the last Friday of term.  Please note this is for both the ELC and the school.  We will be offering the holiday care program for both of these days at the ELC and a booking form will be sent out shortly.

For more details to the purpose of these days, please refer to the Principals Message in this newsletter.

Covid Update

The Covid Roadmap has been released this week and it has enabled some changes in the ELC:

 - Positive Covid cases present in the ELC will be treated like other infectious disease and notifications will be made via Szapp and door signage not individual emails.

- Masks are no longer required to be worn in the ELC, unless you are a close household contact.

- Check In CBR is no longer required, but optional.

- Families must advise the ELC if their child is identified as a close family contact.

- Regular and high levels of cleaning will be maintained throughout the ELC and high ventilation of classrooms will continue (weather permitting).

- Families are unable to enter the ELC building unless by appointment.

- Children are required to enter the ELC via the bathroom for handwashing.

God, may we feel the warm embrace of your love during this Easter season. May the glory of Jesus’s resurrection remind us that with You, nothing is impossible or without hope. May our words and deeds today, and always, serve as reminders of the transformative power of Your love. Amen. 

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Term 2 at Holy Trinity! I hope that you have all had time to rest and enjoy family time at Easter.  It has been wonderful to be able to greet many families without masks, and welcome you on to our school grounds- outside for the moment! I know our teachers are also loving being able to talk to the students without masks  and let them see their smiles!!!

At the end of last term we farewelled the Everett family, (Jubal, Georgia and Maren) who returned to the US and the Westcombe family (Maddie) who went to NZ. It is wonderful to be able to welcome three new families to our school - The Reades (Olivia 3/4), The Seniors, (Willow 1W) and The Palats (Eeshaan KG).  It is also a pleasure to congratulate Catherine Joy and Emily Capper who celebrated their Masters Graduation during the Easter break!  It is fabulous to have Emily Capper back at school as REC for two days a week this term. 

In week 10, we once again celebrated our students achievements with an Awards Assembly.  Congratulations to the following students for this very proud milestone: 

On the first day of the holidays, the Greek community held a festival at the Museum of Australia.  Many of our Holy Trinity families (including their children) worked on a food stall, and have generously donated the profits from this to our school. We cannot thank you all enough for this kindness and generosity! A particular thank you to John Loukadellis, Leo and Laura Exharos, Anthea Diamond, Emilia Terzi, Yvonne Varela, Maria Pashalidis and all their families!  (Apologies if I may have missed anyone). 

Some more happy news to share is about the Clark-Wellington's family (Xavier) who have recently welcomed the arrival of a baby sister, Gwen Alexandria. Such beautiful news! 

Also please keep in your prayers Audrey (3 /4) who is recovering from surgery in the holidays.   Audrey was staying at the Ronald McDonald House when Sunrise was reporting weather from there! 

As outlined in a COMPASS message sent on Tuesday, this term has began with a detail COVID Road Map based on new ACT health guidelines.  It is wonderful to be able to welcome back our parent community on school grounds.  Please note at this stage, parents are unable to enter the school building (unless by appointment, preferably out of school hours).  This includes the front foyer/front office area. 

As stated, we are excited to welcome parents/carers back on school grounds in outdoor areas. Any parents needing to see teachers/staff, will need to make an appointment. From 3:10pm, all students will now be picked up from the drive through area in our car park-  we will no longer be doing a separate pick up on the ring road for families with one child (unless wet weather!). As parents are now allowed to come on site outdoors, you may park and collect your child/ren from the following areas:

• Kinder and Year 1- Kitchen garden
• Drive through area near portables
• Basketball courts

Otherwise, you can drive through in the car park and we will place your child/ren in the car. Parents are also welcome to come on school grounds when dropping child/children off in the mornings.  Wet weather pick up is the same as last term, with the ring road for families of one child and the drive through for families with more than one child.  Wet weather supervision in the morning is now allowed to be in the hall, as cohorts can be together.  Please click here for the Term 2 COVID Road Map, noting that this may change if ACT Health continue changing restrictions.  These new protocols will allow us to have our working bee outside next Friday and our Mother's Day stall outside. 

Significant staff absences in Term 1 and the limited availability of casual teachers has placed extra loads on staff at schools to cover classes and maintain face-to-face teaching. As a consequence, many schools have a backlog in teacher RFF and extra teaching duties. Teachers have been unable to complete regular professional learning, class preparation and administration. Principals and members of schools executive teams were also taken away from their normal responsibilities to take classes.  As a result of this, Ross  Fox, Catholic Education Director, has authorised every Catholic school in our Archdiocese to have two pupil free days this term.  Please see his letter below: 

Dear parents and carers

I have authorised two extra pupil free days in Term 2 for all schools in the Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn to support teachers who have been carrying extra teaching loads due to the COVID-related staff absences.

Like many other school systems, in Term 1 our schools had significant staff absences. Casual teachers were in short supply so teachers and principals covered classes of absent teachers. They went without their usual allocated release from day-to-day teaching and planning, professional learning and administration.

Despite these challenges, our staff sought to maintain the highest quality of teaching, learning and pastoral care of students.

I have asked each school to engage with their parent and carer communities to give you timely notice of these pupil free days.

Thank you for your understanding and support,

Ross Fox

Director Catholic Education

Please mark in you calendars that these pupil free days will be on Friday 27th May and Friday 1st of July. The 27th of May coincides with the Reconciliation Day long weekend and the 1st of July is the last Friday of term.  Please note this is for both the ELC and the school.  We will be offering holiday care programs for both of these days at the ELC and KidsBiz. 

Holy Week

Thank you to the teachers and students who led our school beautifully during Holy Week! 

Easter Raffle

Congratulations to our Easter Raffle winners!

Thank you to all the students and families who supported this fundraiser. Also, a huge thank you to all the Year 3/4 students who kindly donated our prizes.

ANZAC Day

Our military families and students will lead the school in our ANZAC Day Service tomorrow, Friday, 29th April at 10.30 am. We will post photos in next weeks newsletter.

Confirmation – Year 6 Students

The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated in our Parish this Term. Children who have already celebrated their First Reconciliation and First Eucharist and are in Year 6 or above may be enrolled.

To enrol your child, please

1. Download the Qkr! App
2. Search for ‘Woden North Transfiguration Parish’
3. Click on ‘Parish Payments and Sacraments’
4. At the top, Click on ‘Sacrament’
5. Then select ‘Confirmation’
6. Fill out the Enrolment form and pay the $40 (This helps to defray the cost of a workbook, commemorative certificate, medal and administrative costs. If you have difficulty meeting the offering, please contact the parish office for a confidential discussion.)

The Enrolment Form asks for your child’s confirmation name and sponsor.  If your child has not yet decided on a confirmation name or sponsor, you should still return the form by Friday 29 April and provide this information when it becomes available.  (A confirmation name is the name of a saint who inspires the candidate to follow Jesus).  The sponsor assists the candidate to grow in their Catholic faith.  The sponsor must be a confirmed Catholic normally not less than 16 years of age, living a life of faith consistent with that role, having a good relationship with the candidate and being neither parent nor sibling of the candidate as they are sponsoring on behalf of the wider family of faith. 

Preparation for this Sacrament will be done through a Family-Based Program

The Parish Family-Based program affirms the direct participation of parents in their child’s faith journey with the prayerful support of the Parish community.  The program compliments but does not replace the religious instruction given at Catholic schools or through a School of Religion.  Parents have found the program to be a graced time with their child and that in turn has made the celebration of the Sacrament all the more meaningful.  Home-based family groups will be discussed and allocated at the Parent Information Night (PIN).

Hosting a Family Group

The program is dependent on the generosity of some parents to host or to co-host a family group.  The role of a host is not difficult, with session notes and guidance provided.  N.B. Hosts will be required to attend an Online Information Session at 5.30pm on Tuesday 3 May, please contact me if you would like to discuss further.

All hosts must have, or have applied for, a Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) card. There is no cost involved in applying for a WWVP card for volunteers.

What does the program involve?

The program includes:

• An Information Session for hosts of a family group at 5.30pm, Tuesday 3 May, via Zoom.
• An Introductory Night for all parents to receive an overview of the family sessions at 6 pm, Tuesday 3 May, via Zoom.
  • https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/j/66596455720
  • meeting ID: 665 9645 5720
• Four Family Group Meetings for parents and children.
• Presentation Mass. Each family must attend either of the Saturday 4 June 6pm, Sunday 5 June 9.30am or 5:30pm Mass, at Holy Trinity Church, Curtin.
• Parent and Child Stole Night, in Week 7 (date TBC), in the Holy Trinity School Hall, 18-20 Theodore Street, Curtin.
• Pending COVID-19 restrictions, a children’s Retreat Day and practice, Friday 17 June, 9.15am-2.15pm, in the Holy Trinity School Hall.

What next?

If you would like your child to celebrate Confirmation this year, you must complete enrolment and payment to the Parish Office by Friday 29 April 2022.  Enquiries can be made to the Parish Office (9am – 3.30pm Mon, Wed and Fri, 6281 3999, or email to wodennorth@cg.org.au)

Please note: The Sacrament will be celebrated in the Parish of the Transfiguration, North Woden, on Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 6pm and Wednesday 22 June at 6pm. 

Fundraising for Global School Partners

This term our Christian Outreach leaders will be fundraising for Eveland Hekima who is our GSP School. Every two weeks there will be a different fundraiser led by each year group. To participate, all you need to do is donate a GOLD COIN for each event. Please refer to our fundraising schedule for the dates of these events:

Term 2 Celebrations

Week 2

• Tuesday 3rd May 6pm - Confirmation Parent Information Night
• Friday 6th May - Mothers Day Video presented by Kindergarten & Stall

Week 3

• Monday 9th May 2:30pm - 3/4 White Class Assembly

Week 4

• Monday 16th May 2:30pm - 6 Green Prayer Celebration 

Week 5

• Monday 23rd May 2:30pm - 2 Green Class Assembly

Week 6

• Monday 27th May 2:30pm - 3/4 Red Prayer Celebration Reconciliation Week
• Saturday & Sunday 4th & 5th June: Confirmation Presentation Masses

Week 7

• Friday 10th June 12pm - Trinity Sunday Whole School Mass

Week 8

• Tuesday 14th June 2:30pm - 3/4 Blue Prayer Celebration

Week 9

• Tuesday & Wednesday 21st & 22nd June 6pm- Sacrament of Confirmation

Week 10

• Monday 27th June 2:30pm - 5 Red Class Assembly

Mother's Day stall is happening tomorrow morning!

The Holy Trinity Mothers’ Day stall will be held this year on Friday 7th May.  For those not familiar with the stall the idea is that each child gets to ‘buy’ a gift for their Mum.

To make things easier for families this year, the P&F will procure all the gifts for the stall. We ask you to contribute $5 per child via Qkr which goes towards the cost of the gifts and a donation to the L'Archce Foundation. Every year the Mother’s Day stall donates all profits to this terrific local charity, who provide people with intellectual disabilities the support they need to lead fulfilling and empowered lives.

Payment for the Mother's Day stall is in the School Events menu on Qkr in the Holy Trinity P&F section.

We understand some families in our community might be experiencing financial hardship and we want to assure those families that all children will be invited to participate in the Mother’s Day stall irrespective of payment. No child will be excluded.
If you are in a position to donate a ‘gift’ to support a less fortunate family in our community, we would be thrilled - it’s as easy as making an additional contribution via Qkr.

Also, on the day we require a number of Father helpers to assist with the stall between 8.30am – 11.00am.

To volunteer, please click here and complete the form which will be sent through to  Mark Bauer.

If you are able to assist, please click here to let us know so that we can ensure we have enough afternoon tea for everyone.

Coinciding with National Families week - Australia’s annual celebration of the importance of families, The Council of Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) in collaboration with Catholic Education are hosting an online family event in Term 2.

 This event is an opportunity for families to learn more about the Catholic School Parent Council and the ways it provides advocacy, leadership, representation, and support for families in our Archdiocese.  There will also be an opportunity to discover some practical ways for families to engage in their child’s learning. Please click on  this flyer for more information.  Registration is done via the link on the flyer.